Pre‐Flight and In‐Flight Calibration and Performance of the Terminal Tracking Cameras (TTCams) on the NASA Lucy Mission

The Terminal Tracking Camera (TTCam) imaging system on the NASA Lucy Discovery mission consists of a pair of cameras that are being used mainly as a navigation and target acquisition system for the mission's asteroid encounters. However, a secondary science‐focused function of the TTCam system...

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Published inEarth and space science (Hoboken, N.J.) Vol. 11; no. 8
Main Authors Zhao, Y., Bell, J. F., Sahr, E., Lessac‐Chenen, E., Adam, C., Cisneros, E., Winhold, A., Caplinger, M., Ravine, M., Schaffner, J., Shamah, J., Mottola, S.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Hoboken John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.08.2024
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Subjects
Asteroids
Calibration
Cameras
Digital cameras
Electronics
imaging instruments
Power supply
Science
Sensors
space missions
Video recorders
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Summary:The Terminal Tracking Camera (TTCam) imaging system on the NASA Lucy Discovery mission consists of a pair of cameras that are being used mainly as a navigation and target acquisition system for the mission's asteroid encounters. However, a secondary science‐focused function of the TTCam system is to provide wide‐angle broadband images over a large range of phase angles around close approach during each asteroid flyby. The scientific data acquired by TTCam can be used for shape modeling and topographic and geologic analyses. This paper describes the pre‐flight and initial in‐flight calibration and characterization of the TTCams, including the development of a radiometric calibration pipeline to convert raw TTCam images into radiance and radiance factor (I/F) images, along with their uncertainties. Details are also provided here on the specific calibration algorithms, the origin and archived location of the required ancillary calibration files, and the archived sources of the raw calibration and flight data used in this analysis. Key Points We detail the pre‐flight and initial in‐flight characterization and calibration of the NASA Lucy mission's Terminal Tracking Camera system Pre‐flight results primarily include sensor and system characterization (gain, dark current, linearity, flat field, bad pixels, and radiometry estimates) We describe the calibration pipeline as well as initial in‐flight optical assessment and refined radiometry results from Earth, Moon and star field imaging
ISSN:2333-5084
2333-5084
DOI:10.1029/2024EA003576